A New Leaf
by andee333
Summary: MBAV Season 2, Episode 3: Disaster looms on the horizon, and Benny tries to make money at school for a video game. A little bit of Etharah!
1. Chapter 1

"And retailers predict that it'll be the highest-selling video game in the past five years, beating out the record held by _Knights of Ninjitsu 4_, which came out this past September," the newswoman on our TV announced intensely. "If you look behind me, there's already a line of excited fans camped in front of this store."

"Aw, man!" Benny exclaimed. "_I_ should be in that line!" He was sitting on the floor in front of my TV, depressed about not being able to get _Immortal Enemies III_ as soon as it came out. It had been a week and a half since Benny had been possessed, and he was definitely back to normal.

"Well, you shouldn't have tried to do your homework with a finishing spell," I told him as Sarah laughed at the thought. We were in the kitchen cleaning up the mess she and Jane had made while baking cookies.

"I would've succeeded if my paper hadn't caught fire," he grumbled, turning off the TV and joining us. "I mean, that was the whole American Revolution, up in smoke."

"Which Grandma smelled, hence the grounding," Sarah finished, drying off a bowl.

"Exactly," Benny affirmed. "She only lets me come over here in case you need supernatural backup in short notice."

"Or help with the dishes," I said with a smile, handing him my towel and a dish.

He sighed. "Do I have to?" he whined.

"Only if you don't want Grandma to spank you," I said, walking away.

"Hey, not cool, man!" he called. "That never happened!"

Sarah laughed again, knowing that was a lie. "So, have you asked Della to the Homecoming dance yet?" she asked him.

"Not yet," Benny sighed, putting the dish in the cupboard and grabbing another one to dry. "I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to her in a long time. Besides, I think we should hold off on the dances for a bit."

"Why?" Sarah asked in surprise.

"Remember what happened at the last dance?" Benny mumbled, but not too low for me to hear in the living room.

Sarah exhaled loudly. "How could I forget?" she said sadly, and I felt bad all over again. "But you can't let fear of Jesse rule your lives."

"I know," Benny replied, "but I still think Ethan needs some more time to recover." What was he talking about? I felt fine.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Sarah agreed, cleaning out the sink. "He seems even more nervous than usual around me since the attack."

"Well, that's not because of the attack," Benny blurted. I wanted to kill him.

"It's not?" Sarah asked, confused. "Then why?"

"Umm," Benny started nervously, "it's something personal that has nothing to do with you." It came out more like a question that a statement. I could feel the awkwardness all the way in the living room.

"Uh-huh," Sarah said skeptically.

And all I could do was put my head in my hands. I vowed that would the last time _I'd_ eavesdrop on those two.


	2. Chapter 2

"Benny, we need to talk," I said the next day after school. We were at his house, about to start a four-hour video game-a-thon because we hadn't gotten any homework that day.

"Oh, no," he said, horrified. "I hate those words. Please don't tell me that Skynet has become aware!"

"What? No, are you crazy? That'll never happen," I assured him, then remembered what I was going to say. "But that's not what I need to talk about."

"Okay, good," he said, sighing with relief and landing on the couch. "Then, what's up?"

"It's about Sarah," I started, sitting down beside him.

"Of course it is," he said nonchalantly.

I rolled my eyes. "You can't have any more slip-ups like you did yesterday," I said seriously. He gave me a confused look.

"In the kitchen?" I said, exasperated.

His eyes went wide. "So, you heard that, huh? Look, I'm sorry. It just slipped out, but I did try to backtrack. Why don't you want her to know anyway?"

"I think it's just better that way. For now, I mean."

"You wait too long, you're gonna get stuck in the 'Friend Zone'," he warned. "And trust me, that's _way_ worse than any rejection could ever be."

"I know, I know," I said, rubbing my forehead. "I just need a little more time to get to know her is all."

"Time's running out, my friend," he said sadly with a sigh. "It's been almost four months, and _Be A Man _magazine says you have roughly six."

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" I asked a little panicked.

"Oh, gee, I don't know…maybe _tell her_!" Benny said, almost spitting the words into my face.

"What if she gets all weird and stops hanging out with us because I freaked her out by asking?"

"Is that a risk you're willing to take?"

"No, not really," I said honestly.

"Then I'm afraid I can't help ya," he said, taking a big gulp of his soda. I sat back with an annoyed groan and let my head hit the sofa.

"If only there was a way to know for sure whether she likes me or not," I said, defeated.

"Aw, c'mon," Benny said, elbowing me in the ribs a little. "Rejection isn't so bad after the first few times. Take it from me! I am the _king_ of getting rejected."

"Hello, boys," Grandma said as she walked into the room, startling both of us.

"Grandma!" Benny yelped. "When did you even get here?"

"A few seconds ago, when I walked into the room," she said as if it were obvious. "What, you didn't hear me come in?"

"How could I," he asked defensively. "You're, like, a Ninja Grandma."

"I'll take that as a compliment," she said proudly, putting a huge bag down on the coffee table in front of us with a dull _thud_.

"What is all this?" I asked, poking the bag cautiously.

"Is it something that explodes?" Benny asked excitedly.

"No," she said patiently, opening the bag to reveal what had to be over twenty boxes of herbal tea.

"Dang!" Benny exclaimed, picking up a box to examine it. "They have a Super Sale on tea at the Quickie Mart or something?

"Actually, yes," she said, "but that's not the only reason I bought it."

"What are you going to do with all this?" I asked amazed.

"Well, I used to read tea leaves when I was your age, boys. It was one of my favorite hobbies, and I used to do readings for my friends. I figure, if I'm the one teaching you all about the supernatural, I might as well teach you tasseography."

"Oh, sweet!" Benny said, fist-pumping the air. "Just like Harry Potter!"

"Wait," I interrupted, holding up a hand. "I thought tea leaf reading was pretty unreliable."

"It is for most," Grandma agreed, taking the boxes out of the bag, "but it's actually very accurate when a supernatural performs it. Of course, nobody has to know that." She gave us a wink and walked out of the room with two of the boxes.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Benny said, almost shaking with anticipation.

"Yeah, it is," I agreed whole-heartedly. "Benny, what if I can find out whether or not Sarah really likes me with a tea leaf reading?"

Benny perked up. "That would be one heck of a bonus."

I nodded with a smile, more than ready to start this lesson.

* * *

><p>"Now tap the bottom of the cup three times," Grandma instructed Benny. He did so, looking at her like she was crazy.<p>

"This process makes no sense," he said frankly when he was done. Ignoring her grandson, she squinted at the bottom of the cup for a few moments.

"Aha!" she exclaimed suddenly, making us jump. "Just as I expected: an eye."

There was a stretch of silence. "I don't get it," Benny said with a frown.

"It means that you should be cautious," she said, washing out the cup. "The image was almost on the rim of the cup, which means it'll happen soon.

"_What_ will happen?" Benny asked.

"Well, we don't know yet, dear," she explained.

"That's extremely vague," I pointed out.

"I never said it wouldn't be," she said with a smile.

"So, that's all there is to it?" Benny asked, shrugging his shoulders. She nodded. "Now what?"

"Well, the rest you have to interpret yourself," she explained, drying the cup. "It could me exercise caution in your finances, your friendships, your everyday activities...your love life-"

"Grandma!" Benny yelped. I put my head in my hand, trying so hard not to laugh.

"Well, that might be what it means," she said indignantly as she put the cup in the cupboard. "Would you like a reading, Ethan?"

"Uh, no thanks," I said hastily, looking down at my almost empty tea cup.

"Aw, come on, E," Benny prodded. "It's actually pretty cool. Besides, she's doing this for free."

"That's right, and next week I'll be charging," Grandma teased.

Hesitantly, I gave in. "Alright, I guess one couldn't hurt."

Grandma picked up my cup, turned it upside-down on a plate, and I tapped the bottom of the cup three times. As she picked up my cup to look inside, I couldn't help but think this was all pretty silly.

Then I saw Grandma's face. Her eyes were squinted, and then her expression contorted into worry. She looked up at me with all the sadness of the world in her eyes and placed the cup back down on the counter.

"Uh oh," Benny whispered.

"What?" I asked nervously. "It can't be that bad."

She passed the cup to me and I looked inside. On the side of the cup, close to the top, was a clump of coffee grounds in the shape of a gun.

"Well," I started, breaking into a cold sweat. "That's obvious."

* * *

><p>The next day crawled at a snail's pace, because all I could think about was how I was in danger. Finally at home, I felt safe enough to discuss the issue.<p>

"Are you sure it doesn't have anything to do with our normally dangerous activities?" I asked.

"I wish I could tell you for sure, dear," Grandma said as she handed Jane her teacup, "but tasseography is such a hazy practice. Like I told Benny, you have to determine what it means on your own."

"But you must have some idea of what it's talking about," I said in exasperation.

"Even if I did, I would not tell you."

"What? Why not?" I asked.

"It's never a good idea to know too much about you future, even if you're in danger," she said, raising her voice as my panic increased.

"Hey, everybody. It's me!" a voice called from the front door. Sarah. I had totally forgotten it was Friday! "And I brought some presents!" She walked into the kitchen with Benny, Erica, and Rory in tow.

"None of us had anything better to do tonight," Erica said sadly, her arms crossed.

"So we decided to crash here," Rory said with a smile.

"Figured we might as well hang out while things are calm and we're not trying to rid Whitechapel of supernatural evil," Sarah said nonchalantly.

"That's a great idea, guys," Grandma said. "I just introduced Benny and Ethan to the world of tea leaf reading yesterday. Would you like to try it?"

"Sure," Sarah said enthusiastically while Erica shrugged with a small smile.

"Sounds awesome," Rory said excitedly.

"Hey, where's Liz?" I asked. She'd gone everywhere we did for the last three weeks, so it was surprising not to see her then.

"She isn't feeling well," Benny explained glumly. "She doesn't know what's wrong, but she decided to stay home."

"Well, tell her I hope she feels better," I said, to which he nodded. Just then, Jane ran up to us with a smile on her face.

"I got a squirrel," Jane said, "and Grandma says that means I'll be getting some money soon. I guess you're gonna need me to cover for you again."

"You wish," I scoffed, to which she shrugged and went upstairs.

Since Erica seemed so bored, she went first. She gulped her tea, being careful not to swallow the grounds. Grandma swirled the bit of tea left three times, turned it upside-down, had Erica tap the bottom three times, then picked it up.

"Hmm," Grandma mused, scrunching up her lips in concentration. "This looks like a lion. That means that you have loyal friends and that they will be a big help to you soon."

Erica pondered this for a moment. "Good to know. Anything else?"

"Nope," Grandma said simply.

"Okay then," Erica said, getting up from the table in disappointment. She whispered something to Sarah, who just shrugged and patted her on the shoulder.

Rory went next, drinking his tea even faster that Erica had. Grandma followed the same process she had before, staring hard into the bottom of the cup.

"Ah," she breathed knowingly with a small smile. "You have a jester."

"No surprise there," Erica muttered.

"What does that mean?" Rory asked with wide eyes.

"It means that you will soon be invited to a gathering or a party."

"Booyah!" he exclaimed, fist pumping the air. "It's about time! But how is that life-changing?"

"Not all fortunes are," Grandma explained, "but you may be surprised."

Then it was Sarah's turn. She looked unsure about the whole thing, but agreed since everyone else had done it.

"Okay," Grandma said, picking up the cup after Sarah completed the process. She looked hard into the cup, turning it different ways, but finally looked up at Sarah with a big smile.

"Very interesting," she whispered. "This is definitely a moon."

Sarah looked at her critically. "What does that mean? Is it because I'm a vampire or something?"

"No," grandma said simply. "It means love."

Sarah's eyes got wide and she laughed nervously. "What?"

"It means that either you're in love or somebody is in love with you. And it looks like you're going to find out which one it is pretty soon."

Now it was my turn to get nervous. I was sure Grandma was about to out me.

"Well, it must be the second one, because you know I have no time to fall in love with someone," she said cheerily. Too cheerily.

Grandma just gazed at her, unconvinced. "I think that's enough fortune-telling for one night, dears. Let's find something else to do."

"I know!" Jane piped up. "_Dance Dance Revolution_!"

"Again?" Benny whined.

"Yes," Jane said assertively.

I leaned over to Benny. "I'd do what she says if I were you."

"You're probably right," Benny whispered back, a little scared. Everybody went into the living room, except Sarah. She was still sitting at the table, her head in her hands.

"Hey, Sarah, you okay?" I asked tentatively. She looked up quickly as if she had forgotten I was there.

"Oh...yeah, I'm fine," she said with a sigh. "I just need some time to think is all."

"Oh, okay." I leaned on the counter and looked around, then looked back at her.

She gave me a pitiful smile. "Alone, if you don't mind."

"Oh, yeah, sure," I said nervously, walking backwards out if the room. "Sorry-" I hit my back against the wall-"S-Sorry."-and rushed out, her laugh echoing in my mind. As soon as I was in the living room, Benny took me to the side.

"I just had the most brilliant idea, dude," Benny said excitedly. "I'm still grounded, but Grandma said I can still get Immortal Enemies 3 as long as I pay for it."

"Okay. Do you have sixty dollars?"

"I will soon," he said with a devious smile. "Once we learn how to read fortunes. Do you know how much money we could get from making people think we know the future?"

"I don't know if that's such a great idea," I said doubtfully. "I mean, it's the first rule of fortune-telling: don't mess around with the future. Plus, we shouldn't be fooling around with the supernatural."

"Too late for that, bud," he scoffed. "That's all we've been doing for the last four months."

"You know what I mean," I said, making sure nobody was listening. "We don't need to fool around with it anymore than we already do on a daily basis."

"Come on, Ethan," he sighed, "this is one of the biggest games of the year, and you can't tell me you don't wanna play it, too."

I sighed in defeat, unable to think of a rebuttal. "This is a bad idea."

"We'll see," he said as he walked back into the living room.

* * *

><p>The next day at school, Benny was nowhere to be found. He hadn't been waiting outside his house like usual, and I didn't find him by his locker either.<p>

Finally, on my way to first period, I saw Sarah.

"Hey, Sarah," I called after her, running to catch up. "I can't find Benny anywhere. Have you seen him today?"

"Surprisingly, no," she said, crossing her arms. "I can't believe you haven't seen him either."

"Well, believe it," I said, readjusting my backpack on my shoulder. "Usually, if I can't find him first thing in the morning, something's up."

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks, staring straight ahead in shock. "Well, you're right about that."

"Why?" I asked, following her gaze. But she didn't have to answer. At the other end of the hall, Benny was sitting behind a decorated table wearing a turban and cloak.

"Oh, crud," I groaned.

"Behold!" Benny called to those passing by. "The amazing Bernardo!"

"This is going to be a long day," I said.


	3. Chapter 3

"Benny!" I snapped, rushing up to the table. "What the heck are you doing?"

"Shh, you're scaring away customers," Benny said hastily, waving me away. "The Amazing Bernardo! I can look into you future for a mere five dollars."

"Five dollars?" Sarah exclaimed.

"It's a tough economy!" Benny whined.

"You have to stop this right now, before someone comes with a straight-jacket," I told him.

"If I'm so crazy, how come I already have thirty dollars, huh?" he gloated, waving the cash in my face.

"What?" I said in happy surprise, grabbing the money. "But school hasn't even started yet."

"Exactly," he said proudly. "Plus everyone gets real readings, since we're supernaturals!"

"And people are actually paying, knowing that the money is going for a video game?" Sarah asked.

"Uh, well...no, not exactly." I looked up in confusion. "They think it's for charity."

"Benny, you can't do that," I said angrily. "It's wrong on so many levels."

"Yeah, and evil," Sarah added, her hands on her hips.

"Relax," Benny said hastily. "I'll figure out ways to pay them back."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose as somebody walked up, wearing sweat pants, a t-shirt, and holding a box of tissues. It took me a moment to realize it was Liz.

"Hey, guys," she said, making it clear that she had a stuffy nose.

"Man, you look horrible," Benny said.

"Gee, thanks Benny," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes and blowing her nose into a tissue.

"Are you okay?" I asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I'll be fine once this-" She pause for a huge sneeze, "-passes."

"I didn't know fairies could get sick," Sarah whispered.

"We're in touch with everything natural in the world, which includes influenza," she explained regretfully.

"Shouldn't you have stayed home if you're feeling this bad?" Benny asked.

"Do you know what the prize for perfect attendance is this year?" We shook our heads. "It's a 2012 Toyota Camry. There is no way I'm gonna lose a chance at that."

"You're out of your mind," Sarah said, shaking her head. Ignoring Sarah, Liz seemed to finally comprehend what was in front of her.

"What the heck are you doing, Benny?"

"I am The Amazing Bernardo!" he announced again as a group of popular girls walked by and almost fell down laughing.

"Really?" she said in amusement. "You look more like The Amazing Dorkus to me."

"He's doing tea-leaf readings to earn money for a video game," I explained. "I have no part in this whatsoever."

"Fine, I'll do it all on my own," Benny said snobbishly.

"I guess you will," I said.

"Okay, then," he spat, trying to have the last word.

"Alright!"

"Boys, break it up," Sarah interjected, stepping in between us.

"We'll see who's too proud to hustle once I have the hottest video game of the year," Benny challenged.

"You wish!" I spat.

"Guys!" Sarah said, turning to me. "You know how Benny's plans go. This'll probably be over by tomorrow."

"Yeah, you're probably right," I agreed, backing away from the table.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a customer," Benny said happily. Sure enough, someone was standing behind us with five dollars in hand. I moved out of the way, unable to understand why anyone would fall for this scheme.

"It's so great that you're donating all this money to orphans," the person said gratefully.

Oh yeah. That's why.

I looked at him in disappointment, shaking my head. "Come on guys, let's go."

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you and Benny are fighting," Sarah said. It was after school and she was driving me home.<p>

"It actually happens more than you know," I said sadly, resting my head on the window. "I mean, he just doesn't think about consequences sometimes."

"Well, he'll learn someday," she assured me.

"I sure hope so," I said. She pulled up in front of my house and unlocked the car doors. "Okay, see you tomorrow Ethan," she said with a smile.

"I gotta ask you something," I redirected, turning to her.

"Okay," she said.

"What was wrong with the reading that Grandma gave you last Friday?"

"Oh, that," she said glumly. "It's nothing, I just had a lot on my mind that day."

"You looked upset though," I continued.

"Oh, no. I was trying to figure out what it meant," she said unconvincingly.

"Alright," I said, giving up. "You know you can trust me, right?"

She gave me a sweet smile. "I know."

I smiled back. "See you tomorrow, Sarah."

"Bye." Then she drove off, leaving me on the sidewalk to wonder what was going on inside her head.

I walked through the front door of my house and up the stairs to my room. Once inside, I almost had a heart attack, because Erica was sitting in my desk chair.

"Gah!" I exclaimed, dropping my backpack on the floor. "How did you get in here?"

"Don't worry about that," she brushed off.

"No," I said, frazzled, "I'm definitely gonna worry about that!"

"Okay, whatever! Stop freaking out, I have to tell you something."

"What?"

"You're in danger. Actually, we all are. I overheard a few guys at school today saying they were going to get back at you for what you did to Jesse. Apparently, they don't know he's back and they're some of his followers."

"What?" I said in disbelief. "I thought we killed all of his followers at the 'Dusk III' premiere."

"So did I," she said, "but obviously we didn't, and now they're coming after us."

"What do we do?" I asked, scared.

"Just be careful for the next few days," Erica instructed, walking towards the already-opened window. "I'm gonna go tell Sarah and Rory, and you tell Benny. Everything is gonna be okay, Ethan. We'll beat them like we always do." With that, she jumped out of the window.

"I'm not so sure this time," I said to myself. After I closed the window, I called Benny.

"Hey, Benny...yeah, it's me...we'll talk about that later. Right now, we've got big trouble."

* * *

><p>"You're saying that Jesse still has followers running around?" Benny asked the next day at school.<p>

"Yeah, and we've really ticked them off." I got my books out of my locker and closed the door, starting towards class. "Erica said we need to be really careful the next few days."

"You think?" he said sarcastically. "What are we going to do?"

"What we usually do, I guess," I said. "Fight and hope we don't become a late night snack."

"Great," Benny said. "Really great image to put in my head." While he said that, I saw Rory running towards us excitedly.

"Hey, dudes! Guess what? We just got invited to the most awesome party of the year!"

"We did?" Benny asked.

"Well, I did, but the guy said that I could invite anyone I wanted to. So we're all going!" he finished happily.

"Who invited you?" I asked.

"He didn't say his name, but he gave me this flyer." Rory handed us the small piece of paper to read.

"Tons of food...door prizes...live DJ?" Benny said excitedly. "Right on!

"So you guys interested?" Rory asked.

"Hecks yeah we are!" Benny announced as I nodded fervently.

"Great! I'll tell him."

"Wait," I started. "How are we going to get out of my house?"

"Don't your parents have a date Friday night, like usual?" Benny asked.

"Yeah, buy what about Sarah?"

"What if we invited her to come with us?" Benny suggested.

"That might just work," I said, a smile spreading across my face.

"Alright!" Rory said triumphantly. "Friday night, we party!"

* * *

><p>For the next three days, we all played it safer than we ever had before, and Liz fully recovered from her flu spell. Now we were trying to figure out what to wear to the party.<p>

"This would be the perfect time to wear your t-shirt with the tuxedo printed on it," Benny suggested.

"Good idea, I think I will." Just as I got the shirt over my head, there was a knock at my bedroom door. Benny opened it, almost too soon, to find a dressed-up Sarah, Erica, and Liz.

"You guys ready to party?" Sarah said excitedly, dancing on the spot.

"Oh yeah!" Benny shouted.

"Just hope this goes better than the last party we all went to," I said.

"It will," Erica assured me. "We're better trained now if anything does go wrong. Ooh, I hope they have some snacks there!"

There was a pause in which we all looked at her like she was crazy.

"What? A girl can dream, can't she?" she said defensively, walking away.

"Alright, let's go," Sarah said, pointing towards the staircase.

"Just a minute, I'm not done changing," I said.

"Well, hurry!" Liz said spastically as they both ran from the door.

"Sheesh, they are in a hurry," Benny observed.

"Can't really blame Sarah," I began, changing into nicer jeans. "She hasn't been to a good party since she became a vampire."

"Touché," he replied. "Oh, I almost forgot! I've finally sold enough fortunes at school to buy us each a copy of _Immortal Enemies III_!"

"Benny," I moaned, "what you're doing is wrong."

"Okay, okay, just act like you don't know where the money came from when I give it to you for Christmas." I just shook my head in disappointment.

Once outside, we picked where we were going to sit in the car, or Benny did anyway.

"Shotgun!" he called, running to the car as I closed the house door. As I walked towards the car, he gave me a wink, and then I saw why. The only seat left was next to Sarah, who had already squeezed into the backseat with Rory and Liz. I gave Benny a deadly look and watched Sarah shrug her shoulders.

Once I was in, we drove off on the longest 15-minute trip of my life. Being around Sarah everyday of my life was stressful enough, so you can imagine how on-edge I was with her almost sitting on my lap. I hated Benny in that moment, but I also silently thanked him.

"Alright, we're here." Erica finally announced, pulling into a drive in front of what looked to be a mansion. When we got out, I almost fell out, to Sarah's amusement.

"Oops," I said feebly, feeling my cheeks heat up. Luckily, it was already dark so she didn't see. Hopefully.

We walked through the front door to find the party had already started. There had to be over two-hundred people there all over the place, holding soda cans and passing footballs back and forth.

"Dang, when he throws a party, he throws a party!" Rory yelled over the din of music, singing, and other people hollering.

"Dude, there's Della," Benny said in my ear, pointing in front of us. "I gotta go talk to her."

Once he rushed off, it seemed like everybody else went their separate ways, leaving Sarah and me standing in the main hall.

"So what should we do?" I called to her.

"Find a quieter place!" she called back with a laugh.

Suddenly, she grabbed my hand and pulled me towards what looked like a living room. I know it was only to keep me from getting lost in the crowd, but I still blushed.

Once in the room, she shut the door, which made me nervous. Even though we weren't alone, I still had no clue what she was planning to do. When she turned around, she spotted a couple making out in a corner chair.

"Well, that's beautiful," she said quietly with sarcasm. I just laughed. "I'm gonna go get us some punch."

"No, I'll go," I said, stepping in front of her. "It's the polite thing to do."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Of course," I said with a shrug.

"Thanks, Ethan," she said gratefully, sitting down on a couch.

I left to get the punch and saw Benny dancing with Della, Erica flirting with a random guy, and Rory and Liz chatting by the food table.

"Hey, Ethan," Rory said when he saw me approaching. "Is this a great party or what?"

"The best so far," I said truthfully.

"There's the guy who invited me," Rory said, pointing over my shoulder. I turned around to see a guy dressed in black with pale skin. He looked straight at me with a indecipherable expression, then walked away. It occurred to me that he looked like one of the Drama kids.

Drama kids…

"Nah, not here," I said to myself. Dismissing it, I filled up two cups with punch and walked back to the living room.

"Here you go," I said, handing Sarah her cup and sitting down beside her.

"Thanks," she said, taking a drink. I knew the punch was a cover so that she would seem normal and so she wouldn't draw any attention to herself.

We sat there for a few minutes, sipping on our drinks, when she gasped.

"I love this song!" she said, standing up and putting her drink on the side table. A slow song had just come on, one I had only heard a few times.

"Dance with me," she said, grabbing my hand again.

"Uh, I can't dance," I said nervously, breaking into a cold sweat as she pulled me up on my feet.

"Oh, it's easy," she assured me. She put my hands on her waist and her hands on my shoulders, then we started swaying back and forth.

I was thinking about pinching myself to see if this was real, when the music stopped and a voice came over the speakers. I stepped away quickly.

"Attention," the voice called. "We would like to announce the winner of our first door prize. And the winner is…Ethan Morgan!"

"What? I didn't put my name in or anything," I said in shock.

"They must have a list, just go on!" she said, pushing me towards the door.

"Ethan, please come up the stairs and step through the first door on the left to claim your prize," the voice finished, and the music resumed.

I walked up the stairs and looked over to see Benny and Rory giving me the thumbs-up. At the end of the stairs was a hall, which I walked down until I got to the first door on the left.

Once I walked into the room, I instantly knew something was wrong. There wasn't one piece of furniture to be seen, not even a fan on the ceiling.

"Hello?" I felt something hit the back of my head, knocking me the floor. My head was bursting with pain before it even hit the ground, and I lost consciousness once it did.

"Congratulations, Ethan Morgan," the attacker said quietly, throwing down the crowbar. "You just won the grand prize: dinner with the host. Or should I say, dinner _for_ the host."


	4. Chapter 4

"What is taking so long?" Sarah said to herself. It had been fifteen minutes since they had called me upstairs, and she was starting to feel uneasy. Just then, Benny, Rory, and Liz walked up to her.

"Is Ethan back yet?" Benny asked.

"No, and I'm starting to worry," Sarah told him helplessly.

"I'm sure he's fine," Liz said.

"I don't know," Sarah said doubtfully. "I've texted him three times and he hasn't answered. That's not like him."

"Something's up," Rory agreed.

"Let's go," Benny said. They all rushed up the stairs and down the hall.

"Does anybody remember which room he was supposed to go into?" Benny asked.

"I think it was the first one on the left," Liz said.

"I hope you're right," Sarah said as she turned the doorknob. Once she opened the door, she knew Liz had been right. I was tied to a chair, unconscious, an unfamiliar vampire about to bite my neck.

"Put those away!" Sarah yelled, getting the vamp's attention. She rushed at him with super-speed and kicked him out of the window behind him. Immediately, she started shaking me, trying to wake me up.

"Ethan! Ethan!" she screamed, but I didn't wake up. Then she smelled the intoxicating scent that could only mean one thing.

"He's bleeding," she said breathlessly, stepping away from me.

"What?" Rory yelped.

"I can smell it," she said frantically. "I think that guy hit him over the head with something."

"Oh, no," Benny whispered, picking up the crowbar that was lying on the floor next to his foot. Just then, the vampire Sarah had kicked jumped back in through the window, and another one broke down the door behind them. Rory started fighting the second one, and Sarah started fighting the first one.

Meanwhile, Benny ran over to me and started untying. Liz tried to get clear shots at the evil vampires with fire bolts and I started waking up. "Benny, what happened?" I asked groggily.

"You're gonna be okay, E," Benny assured me as he finished the last knot. "He hit you with a crowbar and knocked you out, then we came looking for you."

"Trap?" I guessed.

"Yeah, I guess it was," Benny said. I suddenly noticed the battle in progress and looked urgently at Benny.

"There's a silver switchblade in my right sock. Throw it to Sarah!" I said quietly. Confused, Benny searched anyway and found the enclosed weapon where I said he would.

"Nice," Benny said impressed. "Sarah!" Without even looking at her, he threw the knife, she caught it, and finished off the vampire.

The vampire Rory was fighting had him in a headlock. Sarah threw the knife to Liz, who caught it and threw it into the second vampire, missing Rory by less than an inch.

"My afterlife just flashed before my eyes!" Rory said fearfully.

"Sorry," Liz said, embarrassed.

"Everybody okay?...Ethan! Oh, thank goodness," she said gratefully as she ran over and hugged me. "I shouldn't have waited so long to start looking for you. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, I'm fine," I told her, hugging her back.

She pulled away to help me up, since I was a bit unsteady. "I don't think we should go to anymore parties for a long time," I suggested.

"No kidding," Sarah scoffed.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe I missed the whole thing!" Erica exclaimed angrily as they drove home.<p>

"And I can't believe the guys who invited us turned out to be vampires!" Rory said in shock.

"Well, believe it," Sarah said from the backseat.

"It definitely happened. Ow," I said cradling the injured spot on the back of my head.

"Don't worry, Ethan. Grandma will have you fixed up in no time," Benny assured me.

"Shouldn't I go to a hospital?" I asked.

"And tell them what? That a vampire hit you over the head with a crowbar so he could have you for dinner?" Liz asked.

"Well, we can leave out the part about vampires," I said.

"Trust me, it'll just be easier to fix you up at Grandma's," Sarah told me.

"Speak of the devil," Benny said, looking at his phone, "I got a text from her.

'Found the turban, Bernardo. You're in big trouble.'…Oh crud."

"Told you," Sarah said to me as Liz started laughing.

Once we were home, Grandma took Benny to the side to tell him off and then fixed me up.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed as she wrapped the bandage around my head.

"Sorry, dear," she said. "You know, your fortunes did warn you all."

"You're telling me," Rory said, sitting at the table across from us.

"We just didn't think it would happen there," I explained.

"Oh, it can happen anywhere," she said. "The world is a more dangerous place for you six kids than for anybody else."

"Well, that's just great," Erica said. "So that's what we get for fighting the forces of evil?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Grandma answered. "But you're all doing the right thing. Except for Benny, of course." She glared at him, causing him to shrink back in his chair. She stood up and left to put the first-aid kit away.

"It's a miracle I didn't have a concussion," I said. "So, what's your punishment Bernardo?"

"She's making me tell Principal Hicks the truth on Monday, and then I'm giving everybody a refund. So, I lose $150 and I get detention for who knows how long," he said glumly.

"At least you tried, bro," Rory said, patting him on the shoulder. We all just shook our heads, which hurt a little for me.

"So, you know how you talked about lying low a few months ago?" Sarah asked me.

"Yeah."

"It sounds pretty good to me right now," she said with a smile, and all we could do was laugh.


End file.
